"The Enlightenment of Bees" by Rachel Linden

The Enlightenment of Bees: the story behind the story!           

       by Rachel Linden

I write stories about strong women facing big challenges and triumphing with themes about hope, courage and connection. I love to put in elements from my own interests and life experiences, especially travel, food, second chances at love and social justice issues involving women!

Here are 4 ways The Enlightenment of Bees was influenced by my own personal life experience!

1. I worked for a faith-based international aid organization in Europe for seven years. In 2015, I helped provide aid for refugees during the crisis in Europe. I was living Budapest and volunteered at the Roszke refugee camp on the border of Hungary. My own experiences during the refugee crisis shaped Mia's humanitarian work in the camp.
2. I was actually chased by a bull shark in Florida, just like Mia in the story! I was there with a wedding date that went horribly awry and then we were chased by a shark on the 4th of July! Very dramatic. Everyone survived but it was definitely a close call! So I just had to put it in the story, but with a happier ending. 🌝
3. My Grandma Sally became a widow after my grandfather passed away following a fourteen-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. Amazingly she found love again at the age of 79 with a boy she'd gone to high school with! They married at 80 and spent the next seven years traveling the globe before they decided to retire for good. It was like watching a real-life senior citizen Cinderella story! Now they're both 92 and still in love, still together. They say they've been on a twelve-year honeymoon! I based the wonderful character of Nana Alice in the book on my Grandma Sally and loved exploring this beautiful and sweet late-in-life romance.
4. I love to write about food. Somehow it always ends up being a theme in my stories. In Bees, Mia is a baker who is trying to figure out how to make a difference in the world by doing what she loves. I was raised in the kitchen baking with my mother and maternal grandmother, and I love to bake. When I bake I feel like my mother and grandmother are right there with me no matter where I am in the world. And I think baking empowers people to create community wherever they are and to offer hospitality to people, and that's a beautiful thing! It was fun to put baking into the story and show how anything, when done with love, can change the world for good.

Thanks so much for sharing, Rachel!

My review...

I’ve read Linden’s books in the past, and I really enjoyed them, so I was excited to read this one, and it didn’t disappoint.

Mia embarks on a humanitarian mission trip with her friend after losing her boyfriend (almost fiancé) and job, leaving her feeling sorry for herself and questioning everything in her life. She’s a strong heroine, and it’s great to go along on her journey to discovering her place in the world.

Linden’s latest is a coming-of-age story, but not your typical one, as this one focuses on serving others and finding your place in the world. This isn’t a boy-meets-girl sweet romance. Sure, there’s a romance angle, but the key focus is on the global refugee crisis, something I haven’t read about in a novel before. It was well-researched, and it gave the reader a realistic look at things by not having the characters fix everything so that it wrapped up neatly. The author accurately portrays cultures and crises going on in various parts of the world. Linden brings scenes to life with vivid descriptions, which allows the reader to truly feel a part of the story. Difficult topics are handled sensitively, all the while leaving the reader with a greater understanding of what’s going on in the world beyond what they see out their window.

Some of my favorite quotes:

• “Remember, Mia, your place in this world is the space where your greatest passion meets the world’s great pain.”
• “To be alive is to suffer, but the we survive by finding meaning in the suffering.”

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

Purchase link

About Rachel...

Rachel Linden is a novelist and international aid worker whose adventures living and traveling in fifty countries around the world provide excellent grist for her stories. She holds an MA in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College and a BA in Literature from Huntington University, and she studied creative writing at Oxford University during college. Currently, Rachel lives in beautiful Seattle, Washington with her husband and two young children. Rachel enjoys creating stories about hope and courage with a hint of romance and a touch of whimsy

Where you can find Rachel online...

Website

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"The Fay's Apprentice" by Amy C. Blake ... and a GIVEAWAY!

Amy is here to share a bit about her latest release. She has offered to give away an electronic copy of winner's choice of a book in the series. You can enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the end of the post. (Giveaway ends June 13, 2019. If you are the randomly chosen winner, I'll contact you.)

I’m celebrating my newest release, The Fay’s Apprentice, the third novel in my four-book Levi Prince YA Christian fantasy series. This series features scrawny, redheaded, homeschooled pastor’s son Levi Prince during his summers at Camp Classic, a camp for classically educated kids that’s actually a haven for mythical creatures.

Years ago, when I first dreamed up Levi and Terracaelum, it was only natural that Levi be a redheaded, homeschooled pastor's kid like my own children. Camp Classic came into being because we follow a Classical Christian educational system for homeschool, and I thought it be intriguing to include stories from Classical mythology into my plot lines. The Trojan Horse Traitor plays off of the Greek Trojan horse incident. The Fall of Thor's Hammer incorporates the funny Norse myth about Thor in a wedding dress. The Fay's Apprentice integrates the Ancient British legend of Morgan le Fay's apprenticeship to Merlin.

My Levi Prince series is set in Terracaelum, a realm populated by mythical creatures yet ruled by a human man and a human woman. The name Terracaelum comes from the Latin words terra (earth) and caelum (sky or heaven). Camp Classic is on Classic Island, a tiny island in the middle of Lake Superior. Unknown to most of the campers, the far northern cliff of Castle Island is the connecting point with Terracaelum, which is invisible except when the drawbridge is lowered. Besides the director and his wife, Camp Classic's F is not human; it is comprised of elves, dwarves, and pixies who pass for humans to the campers who are unaware that they left Castle Island and entered Terracaelum. Beyond the castle live many other mythical creatures — dragons, mormos, basilisks, dvergar, harpies, griffins, rocs, unicorns, merweavers, lake monsters, and a shape-shifting demon sorcerer named Deceptor.

While my flawed but lovable  main character Levi is a homeschooler, making him appealing to home-educated kids, he is also relatable to traditional-schoolers and even adults. While especially geared toward ten to sixteen year olds, readers of any age will enjoy watching Levi tackle archery, fencing, canoeing, Dragon jousting, Latin verbs, history dates, and, of course, Deceptor and his evil cronies in their bids to take over Terracaelum.

If you're interested in reading Levi's stories, you can buy my books on Amazon in either paperback or Kindle formats. I've included the buy links and blurbs for each book below.

The Trojan Horse Traitor (book 1)

Left on Castle Island to attend Camp Classic, Levi Prince finds himself at the center of an enchanted world of amazing abilities, cloudy motives, and wicked beings that will challenge his very spirit. He begins to form friendships, but life at camp becomes more confusing as questionable activities and uncertain agendas bring about conflict that tests his character in ways you never expected. Finally, faced with a friend's betrayal, Levi is forced to confront true evil. Will he find the courage to stand his ground and to become the hero he was always meant to be?

The Fall of Thor's Hammer (book 2)

Stay out of the cellar! One of Camp Classic's firmest rules puts Levi in a dilemma when he hears banging on the cellar door. Could it be a Lake Superior sailor driven into Terracaelum's underbelly by a storm? Or is it one of the Dvergar trying to lure a foolish camper to certain death? It's only the first night back in the castle and already Levi must make a potentially disastrous decision: Should he disobey Mr. Dominic at the risk of his own life? Or do as he's told, possibly leaving some poor sailor to wander in darkness until he starves?

The Fay's Apprentice (book 3)

On Levi's third summer at Camp Classic, he is torn between two responsibilities. On the one hand, his parents expect him to watch over his little sister Abby, who has no clue their summer camp is a haven for mythical creatures. On the other hand, Mr. Dominic wants him to train at For Terra, a full day's hike away from his sister, because of Levi's previous encounters with the demon sorcerer Deceptor. Although he enjoys training with his friends, Levi finds life at Fort Terra difficult thanks to the ongoing tension between him and Hunter and the stress of having his former kidnapper Regin as a chaperone. When the woman Regin claims to be the evil sorceress Anna appears, Levi faces a whole new challenge.

About Amy...

Award-winning author Amy C. Blake is a pastor's wife and homeschooling mother of four. She has an M.A. in English from Mississippi College and has written articles, devotionals, and short stories for a number of publications. She's also writing two series for the Christian market, her Levi Prince YA fantasy series and her On the Brink Christian suspense trilogy. Whitewashed, Colorblind, and Tie-Dyed, featuring three homeschooled girls on the brink of adulthood ... and danger, are available in paperback and Kindle. The Trojan Horse Traitor, The Fall of Thor’s Hammer, and The Fay’s Apprentice, about homeschooled pastor’s kid Levi Prince and his adventures in Terracaelum, are also available in paperback and Kindle.

Where you can find her online...

http://amycblake.com/

Amy C. Blake Facebook author page

Amy C. Blake Twitter page

Amy C. Blake Amazon author page

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"before I knew you" (Choices Matter, volume 1) by Beth Steury

My review...

Seventeen-year-old Preston has quite a past, but he is ready to make some changes, especially after he meets Maggie, a new girl in town. She doesn't know about his past, and she's sure he's out of her league anyway. Preston's afraid of the truth coming out … which it always seems to have a way of doing. Maggie and Preston learned that all choices have consequences.

This is Steury's debut YA novel, and it's along the same lines as her blog: "Waiting matters... Because YOU Matter." It's the first in a trilogy entitled "Choices Matter." If you have a teen in your life, you may want to consider sharing this with them (though you should read it yourself first). The story is told in alternating, first person POV (Preston and Maggie). The scenarios are realistic and relatable, and Steury accurately captures the teenage voice (as well as the drama, angst, etc). The author tackles tough issues, such as intimacy in a teen relationship and the associated consequences. The characters demonstrate that choices do matter. The pace is quick, thanks to relatively short chapters. The story is well-written overall, and there is just a touch of mystery thrown in. It will be interesting to see what happens next, as the ending does pave the way for the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a review.

Amazon purchase link

"Missing Isaac" by Valerie Fraser Luesse

My review...

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I found the title to be a bit misleading. I expected there to be a much larger focus on Isaac and his disappearance. However, the focus seemed to be centered a bit more on Pete and Dovey. Things did come together, for the most part, as the story went on.

The book takes place in Alabama in the 1960s, and it deals with subjects such as segregation and Christianity. While there is not a deep biblical element, it is woven throughout the story. There are a number of characters, which made it a bit hard to follow at times, and it took quite a few chapters for me to get into the story line. The dialogue is realistic, and the setting is nicely detailed. This is the debut book by the author. I did enjoy the writing style, so I would likely check out future books.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy as part of the Revell Reads Blog Tour program, but I was not required to leave a positive review. 

Amazon link for purchase